JERUSALEM — Critics of Israel’s lopsided prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas said Wednesday that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking — a fear underscored by Gaza militants who said the swap proves that kidnapping is the only language Israel understands.
The deal closed a painful chapter from Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon. But it also raised questions about whether Israel should reconsider its policy of bringing back every soldier from the battlefield at just about any cost.
Israel has been carrying out unequal prisoner swaps for decades. In the past, it has traded live prisoners for bodies, as it did Wednesday. The rationale was seen as essential to instilling loyalty and commitment from its troops.
But “what we’ve done now has made kidnapping soldiers the most profitable game in town,” said Israeli security expert Martin Sherman. “There is absolutely no reason why Hezbollah should not invest huge resources now, along with Hamas, in the next kidnapping.”
Israel holds about 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons.
